Keeping Them in Line
by Kryptonian-Suckerpunch
Summary: She was smart. She was tough. She was a fighter. Though the Jets won't ever admit it, Rosemary Capello saved their ass more than they could count. (I'm bad with descriptions. Reviews highly encouraged, rated T for swears)


Rule number one: Rosemary Capello didn't take any shit. She would be treated respect, or she would clock you in the mouth. Not that anyone in their right minds would even think to disrespect someone as tough as Rosemary Capello. She was tough, tougher than you think a girl named 'Rosemary' would be, and she commanded respect. Some people called her stuck up, but she always responded with the same thing.

"I'm not stuck up," She would say, cigarette between her fingers, "I just know how I deserved to be treated" and then she would bring the cigarette back to her lips and smile sarcastically. Mentally, she would be counting to five before telling you to beat it. Anyone who called her names didn't deserve her time and attention.

Looking at Rosemary, you wouldn't think she had the disposition that she did. During the day, she wore nice dresses her mother bought for her and delivered flowers for the florist she worked for. Her hair, a vibrant strawberry blonde, neatly tucked back by a hair-clip resembling a rose. Her lips were colored red and were always turned in some kind of smirk, like she knew something you didn't. The point being, if you looked at Rosemary Capello for the first time, you wouldn't think that she was the mind that kept a gang in order.

If you asked Rosemary what she does during the day, she'll rattle off chores you would expect an eighteen year old girl to do. Working, helping around the house, having some pop with some of her girlfriends. You'd never know, especially at first glance, that she kept the Jets from chasing their tails around all day.

The Jets didn't accept girls. They denied Anybodys relentlessly, because the Jets didn't accept girls. Everyone knew this, but Rosemary was smarter than all of them combined. The boys are way too prideful to admit it, but they all knew that Rosemary had saved their asses more times than any of them could count. As much as they liked to think that the Jets didn't need a girl around, they knew that they needed Rosemary. The only thing more embarrassing than the Jets admitting that Rosemary was the brains of the operation, was admitting how they met her.

The boys had gathered on a street corner during the busy afternoon hours, watching the crowds of people who hussled back and forth. The boys didn't really care about businessmen on lunch breaks or mothers pushing baby carriages, they were staring at the pretty dames who crossed their paths.

"Look at that one," Johnny muttered a bit too loudly as a particularly pretty girl jogged by. "Like to get me a piece of that one, if ya catch my drift"

"You'll catch my fist up your nose, if ya catch _my _drift!" the dame whirled around and yelled at Johnny, face almost as red as her lipstick. This surprise Johnny so badly that he visibly flinched, making a totally manly squeak noise he would most definitely deny later.

"I uh- uh" Johnny floundered, trying to find words. Everything seemed ten times harder under her harsh, firm stare. Her eyes, the brightest green Johnny had ever seen, seemed to burn holes into him.

"Tongue tied now, huh buddy? Can't seem to find words when a girl fights back? Typical" Her tone was razor sharp, matching the fierceness of her apple-green eyes.

"He didn't say nothing, so why don't you go flounce on home?" Action butted in, seeing that Johnny was choking.

She shot her glare at Action now, and though he was tough, he could feel his stomach churn slightly. There was something about being on the receiving end of her hard stare that made you feel like you were going to wet yourself.

"Me? Go flounce home? Wouldn't you like that?"

"I would" Johnny replied in that dumb, dopey voice of his.

And that's when she punched Johnny in the face.

It happened so quickly, not even Johnny himself saw it coming. Her arm had went back and swung forward with such speed, it was a blur. Her fist, though small and dainty, connected with Johnny's nose and sent him flying down onto his butt.

"That oughta teach you boys some manners" Rosemary smirked, wiping her knuckle, which had some of Johnny's blood on it, on the skirt of her red and blue dress.

"She punched me in the nose!" Johnny announced, hands covering his bloody nose, as if nobody knew what happened.

"And you deserved it, too!" She shot back, a scowl on her lipstick colored lips.

"You've got one wicked punch for a dame" Action remarked, the beginning of a smile on his lips.

"Call me a dame again, and I'll send one your way too, bub!" She replied in her no-nonsense tone of voice, which the Jets would later hear very often.

"Hey hey hey, don't get too hyped up" Riff finally stepped in. While the other guys stepped away from her (no way did they want to end up like Johnny, who was still on his ass), Riff took a step forward.

"Now we didn't mean nothin' by it. Let us make it up to you" Riff offered. The Jets looked at each other suspiciously. As far as they were concerned, they were afraid of this girl who looked like Heaven but threw a punch worthy of Hell.

"What are you going to do? Buy me a pop?" she scoffed sarcastically. "Give me a break, bucko"

"How about you and Johnny hear fight it out? Really give him what he deserves. Sound good to you?" Riff was smiling as he made this offer. Johnny, still on the floor, made a noise of fear.

"Nah," she waved a dismissive hand, looking at Johnny considerably. "He seems to have learned his lesson. I may be tough, but I don't fight boys who can't defend themselves"

Johnny shook his head at her, but he knew she was right. Given the state of his bloody, dripping nose, he was no match for the girl above him.

"If any of ya give me trouble again, I won't mind teaching you some manners too!" She threatened them, pointing her finger in all of their faces.

She was only four feet and eleven inches tall, and she barely weighed over a hundred pounds. She smelled like daisies and tulips, fragrant smells that made all the boys want to greet her neck with their lips. She was a pretty girl, but she scared them. Never had a girl instilled fear in them, but this girl did. This girl who, despite the height difference, sent Johnny tumbling on his ass. Though there was fear for what those fists could bring, there was also a feeling of being impressed. She stood up for herself against a catcall, and gave them a mini lesson on manners.

And they definitely wouldn't forget this.

"We got it, don't you worry" Riff assured her. She looked at him with suspicious eyes, before walking off down the sidewalk. The skirt of her dress swayed as she walked, but all the boys made a point to keep their eyes off her behind. They couldn't risk her turning around and giving them another lesson on manners.

"She's crazy," Johnny remarked as the others pulled him to his feet. "I think i'm in love" Johnny added in a dazed, dreamy voice. The Jets howled with laughter.

"She'll squish ya like a bug!" Ice told him, patting him on the back.

"She needs to be put in her place, if ya ask me!" Action grumbled, though he kept his voice quiet. Who knows how well she could hear? Even he didn't want to take that risk.

"She's something, that's for sure" Riff spit on the sidewalk and faced his gang. "We'll be seeing more of her, I betcha"

And that's how they met Rosemary Capello. They didn't know it then, but they would soon know all of her rules.

Rule number one? Rosemary Capello didn't take any shit.


End file.
